


Zoo Keeper

by jessi_08



Category: Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-14
Updated: 2016-05-14
Packaged: 2018-06-08 10:27:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,181
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6851008
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jessi_08/pseuds/jessi_08
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The team goes to the Zoo during camp, somehow Hope ends up having to wrangle the 'children' of the team.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Zoo Keeper

Hope wasn’t sure going to the zoo with the whole team was a good idea. Mainly because she knew she would be left in charge of Kelley, and Kelley was a child. Then, if she was in charge of Kelley, it’d include Tobin, and with Tobin came Ash. It was not looking good for the keeper.

“You’re going to help me, right?” Hope asked Carli as they sat on the bus heading to the zoo. 

“Oh, no way man.”

“You wanted to go, you voted this on me.”

“I’m not the one dating a child, plus I want to see the polar bears.” 

“We can see the polar bears still!”

“Not with the kid I can’t, she’s gonna be loud and scare them away.”

“Seriously Carli… seriously,” Hope sighed. 

“Take Ali, and Press, they’ll help.” 

“I hate you,” Hope grumbled and Carli laughed.

“Take Alex, she’ll help wrangle Kelley too.” 

“I thought you were my friend.”

“I thought you were sane, then Kelley happened.” Hope glared at Carli.

“I don’t think we’re friends anymore.”

“You love me too much,” Carli said simply and curled back up in her seat with a book. 

“I hate you,” Hope muttered.

“We still on for dinner with Brian this weekend?”

“Fine,” Hope said and Carli smirked, “only if I can bring my child though.”

“She and Brian get along so… no.”

“Stop being mean, I’ve handled it all day so far.”

“Yes, of course you can bring your child. I’m not some kind of barbarian.”

“No, you’re just some polar bear. One that is really excited to finally see her own kind in a simulated habitat.”

“Now who is the asshole?” 

“Hope!” Kelley’s head popped up between the seats, “we’re at the zoo!” she said excitedly and Hope chuckled as Carli stood up.

“Have fun with your child, and the other child, and, oh look, that child too! Maybe ask Jill if they’ll pay you for babysitting,” Carli smirked. 

“What?” Kelley asked, confused, looking between the two.

“Still not the asshole!” Hope shouted after Carli, who gave a wave as she got off the bus. Hope walked up to Kelley and pulled her close, kissing her, “ready babe?”

“More than ready,” Kelley smiled as she took Hope’s hand and tugged her off the bus. 

When Hope stepped off the bus, she realized she really was screwed. Tobin, Ash and Syd were all talking, Syd had her son in her arms and Alex and Ali weren’t far behind them.

“Don’t worry, I called in reinforcements,” Christen said from behind her. Hope turned and saw Lauren and Amy walking up.

“Thank god,” Hope smiled as Lauren hugged her.

“Well, we realized that you were about to get screwed over with the ‘wild children’ of the team and didn’t want to see the great Hope Solo go down that way,” Amy smirked. 

“Plus, we gotta be real. Mal is adorable and we don’t get much time with her,” Lauren said. Hope looked over to the youngest member of their team; she was fitting right in with everyone.”

“Right, that’s why,” Hope joked as she picked Ryan up, getting a hug from the boy. 

“Hi aunt Hope,” he said softly. 

“Hey bud, you ready to have fun?”

“Can we see the polar bears?” he asked excitedly. 

“You might wanna go with your aunt Carli for that.” She set the boy on the ground and watched him run over to Carli who picked him up. She couldn’t hear what they were saying but when Carli beamed and nodded quickly, she knew he had asked. 

“I’m going to stick with my son… but you have my number. I’ll keep my eye out for any runaways too,” Amy said before taking the stroller with her daughter in it over towards Carli. 

“Ready?” Christen said and Hope nodded slowly.

“Why do I feel like we’re walking into our deaths?”

“Because, we’re taking a bunch of adult children into a zoo,” Christen replied before walking toward Tobin. She wrapped her arms around the midfielder, kissing her cheek. Hope gave a soft smile at the couple, she was glad they had each other. She made her way over to Kelley, wrapping an arm around her waist. 

“So, what do we want to see first?”

“The squirrels!” Kelley said, excitedly.

“Kells, squirrels don’t… they don’t… oh my god,” Hope sighed pinching the bridge of her nose. “Kelley, there are no squirrels at the zoo, at least not in enclosures.” Hope gestured to a fat gray squirrel that chose that moment to waddle across the path and into the nearest garbage can.

“Oh… um… sloths?” 

“Alright,” Hope smiled, pulling Kelley close, kissing her, “sloths it is.” Hope grabbed a map, looking to find the sloths and quickly becoming frustrated. “Cheney! I can’t find the freaking sloths on this thing.”

“That’s cause this zoo doesn’t have sloths,” Lauren said and Hope’s jaw dropped. 

“Seriously? Fuck that.”

“Hope!” Christen scolded as she put her hands over Tobin’s ears, “we have children here,” she teased and Hope laughed.

“Sorry Press. I won’t corrupt your girlfriend.”

“You might want Hope to corrupt her just a little bit Pressy. I mean, some of the things she does—”

“Ok,” Lauren said, clamping a hand over Kelley’s mouth, “we really don’t need to know.”

“Ok, so no squirrels, no sloths. What next?” 

“Lemurs?” Kelley offered and everyone looked around at each other, nodding. Hope took Kelley’s hand in her own as the group headed toward the back of the zoo where the Lemurs were. Alex jogged up next to them and tapped on Hope's shoulder, gaining her attention.

“Aren’t you afraid of Lemurs?” she asked and Hope scoffed.

“No.”

“Well, you’re afraid of monkeys and lemurs are monkeys.”

“Lemurs are primates but not monkeys,” Kelley said and Alex looked over at her.

“I always forget you’re smart.”

“I feel like I should be offended,” Kelley said, glaring at Alex who smirked.

“Just remember, I’m smarter than you,” Alex shot back and Kelley raised an eyebrow.

“Should we refer to physics or math to figure this one out? Or chemistry? Oh wait how about—”

“Shut up loser,” Alex pouted and walked over to Ash and Ali, whining about what Kelley had said. Ash shot Kelley a dirty look, Hope raised an eyebrow at Ash in challenge and Ali put a hand on the younger keeper’s chest.

“Don’t even think about it you two,” she said strongly and Hope smirked.

“That’s right Ash, don’t think about it.”

“Watch it Hope,” Ali shot back and Hope gave her a tight smile before nodding. She wasn’t one to piss any of her back line off.

“Look at them all,” Mal said as she excitedly ran up to the edge of the enclosure. There had to be close to thirty lemurs hanging out in the intricate rope and tree structure. Hope watched as Kelley ran up beside Mal, quickly being joined by Ali, Tobin and Alex. Hope walked over to Ash and Christen who hung back.

“So I would have put money on you being excited for lemurs,” Hope said to Ash who shrugged.

“Lemurs may be cute but they are primates, they are smart… smart is scary.”

“So… are you saying you’re dumb?” Hope asked, smirking as Christen chuckled.

“Not what I was going for, but I am not as smart as your girlfriend and neither are you, if we’re honest.”

“We can be honest. You aren’t as smart as your girlfriend either and I’m smarter than her.” 

“Watch it Hope,” Ali shot over her shoulder.

“She might not be as smart as her, but she does have hearing like a fox,” Lauren said nudging Hope.

“Oh! Can we see the foxes?” Mal asked beaming at the older women.

“Do zoos have foxes?” Ash asked quietly and the other three women shrugged.

“Map?” Christen asked and Lauren pulled it out.

“Fennec fox?” 

“Sure baby Mal, we can see the foxes!” Ash beamed and Hope rolled her eyes, the whole team was afraid of breaking the young player’s heart. Truth be told, she never wanted to hurt her either but sometimes they took it too far. Hope walked up to Kelley wrapping her arms around her and resting her chin on Kelley’s shoulder.

“I named that one Fat Joe,” Kelley said pointing out one lemur who was lazily munching on a branch, laying on his back on a plywood platform.

“Fitting,” Hope joked before kissing Kelley’s neck, “off to the fox?” 

“Ok, see ya Fat Joe,” Kelley said as she skipped by Hope’s side. Hope chuckled, shaking her head before joining her girlfriend in her skipping. Before long; Tobin, Alex, Ali, Mal, and Lauren had all joined in. Hope was sure that when they started singing ‘Follow the Yellow Brick Road’ that Ash was recording them. She almost stopped but with the smile plastered on Kelley’s face she couldn’t.

“You are so putting that on twitter, right?” Christen asked Ash, who grinned nodding. 

“Babe,” Tobin said as she skipped her way over to Christen, “you gotta lighten up.” She whispered so only Christen could hear, “no one cares.”

“I am so not skipping with you, Tobin Heath,” Christen scoffed.

“Please,” Tobin pouted and Christen could feel her resolve fading.

“Ash, babe, join us,” Ali said and suddenly Christen was the only one not in on the skipping. She took Tobin’s hand and allowed herself to be pulled to the group as they skipped. When they rounded a corner, they practically ran right into Carli, Moe, Kling, and Amy. Carli raised an eyebrow at Hope who turned beat red. 

“We... um…”

“Can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em?” Carli smirked and Hope’s cheeks deepened their red tint as she nodded. 

“We’re off to see the fox,” Mal grinned and Ryan’s eyes lit up.

“Mom! Fox!” he grinned as he pulled out his Zootopia, Nick the fox, doll.

“Alright, sorry Carli but we’re switching groups,” Amy said as Lauren picked Ryan up.

“You like me better anyway, huh little man?” Lauren grinned and Ryan hugged her tightly. 

“Aunt Tobin’s my favorite,” he said and Ali laughed as Lauren looked offended but kept hugging the boy.

“I’ll just have to brainwash you.”

“Toby! Help!” Ryan said and Tobin’s head jerked up, looking toward the boy. She kissed Christen’s cheek before jogging up to Cheney, snatching the boy from her. 

“Ok, my turn,” Tobin said and Cheney sighed as Tobin allowed the boy to move so he was sitting piggy back style on her’s back. Ryan tried moving his head around so he could find a comfortable spot without being bothered by Tobin’s snapback, Alex seeing the struggle walked up and plucked the hat from her friend’s head, placing it on Christen’s. 

“I was using that,” Tobin said and Alex shrugged.

“It’s cuter on her,” she replied, and Tobin looked over before giving a nod of approval. 

“Guys walk faster!” Mal complained and Tobin chuckled. Soon they came up on the fox enclosure and Ryan grinned.

“It’s Finnick!” Ryan grinned, wiggling on Tobin’s back. Tobin just held him tighter and laughed. In the sand about five yards away was a tiny fox that in Tobin’s mind was all ears. Christen walked up to Tobin, wrapping an arm around her waist, pulling her close. She rested her head on Tobin’s shoulder. 

“It’s so cute,” Mal said and Kelley grinned.

“Can we get one Hope?”

“No,” Hope said quickly and Kelley turned to pout at her.

“You didn’t even think about it,” Kelley claimed, walking slowly toward the keeper.

“Hmmm ok, let me think about it…” Hope put her hand to her chin, “still no.”

“That’s mean,” Kelley said before kissing Hope. Hope put her hands on Kelley’s hips trying to keep her from stepping back and away from her.

“You’re the one that likes it when I’m mean,” Hope said nipping at Kelley’s lower lip.

“Are they always like this?” Mal asked, looking at Lauren, who nodded.

“Yeah, you should’ve seen them in London.”

“Couldn’t pull them apart,” Alex added.

“Oh god, the locker room after that one game…” Amy paled. 

“Why would you bring that up?!” Tobin groaned, dragging her hand over her face. Ryan reached down wiping his own hand over Tobin’s face.

“Better Toby?”

“Much, thanks kid,” Tobin smiled as Amy and Christen chuckled.

“What’s next kids?” Ali asked and Tobin looked over to Christen.

“Otters?”

“Oh, that’s by the seals!” Alex grinned and Tobin smiled.

“Alright, sea life it is,” Amy said as the group headed toward the aquatic area.

“Aunt Chris likes Otters?” Ryan asked looking down at Christen who smiled and nodded.

“Yeah, they are one of my favorites.” 

“I like them too. They’re chill,” the little boy said, gaining laughs from the women around him. Soon, Ash picked the boy off Tobin’s back, placing him on her shoulders. 

“Woah,” he said, “aunty Ash is tall.”

“Yup, and hey, eat your veggies and you’ll get that tall,” Ali said and Ryan smirked.

“Aunt Ash never eats veggies,” he shot back and Ali groaned. 

“Ryan, eat your veggies,” Ash said and the boy sighed.

“Fine.”

“Oh look, there they are!” Christen exclaimed and practically dragged Tobin over toward the otters. Soon, they were all standing around the glass watching the otters play in the water. Christen pointed out the mother who had a baby asleep on her stomach, and another pair that were sleeping afloat, paws clasped tight together.

“Do you know why they sleep like that?” Tobin asked as she wrapped her arms around Christen’s waist. Pulling Christen back against her, she kissed the forward’s neck.

“Hmm?” Christen hummed and Tobin smiled into her neck.

“So they don’t lose their one true love to the sea,” Tobin said softly and Christen turned her head, kissing her.

“Is that why you hold my hand while we sleep?” she asked, cupping Tobin’s cheek.

“You bet,” Tobin said kissing her again.

“Ok… are  _ they _ always like  _ that _ ?” Mal asked, looking at Tobin and Christen this time. Lauren and Amy looked at each other then their best friend and awed.

“Oh my god, Toby is so cute,” Amy said, pulling her phone out to snap a photo.

“She’s so grown up,” Lauren said, wiping at tears that weren’t there.

“Dear god… is this whole team built on weirdos and horn dogs?” Mal asked and Ali looked at her.

“You really want the answer to that Pugh?” Mallory’s eyes went wide as she thought about it.

“No… no I do not...” Mal said vacantly before chuckling.

“So what’s that make you?” Kelley asked.

“Telling you right now, I’m not a weirdo,” she said before her cheeks flared red as she realized what she’d said. The others busted out laughing.

“Oh Mal,” Lauren chuckled, slinging an arm over young woman’s shoulders, “sometimes it’s better to stop while you’re ahead.”

“Look! He has stacking cups!” Ryan squealed, pulling the attention of the group back to the otters. Mallory sent a thank you up to the sky, and stood on her tiptoes to ruffle Ryan’s hair. She spotted Kelley walking away and followed her.

“Kelley… where are you going?” Hope asked as she noticed Kelley starting to head away from the group.

“Um… the Walrus… over?” she pointed over toward a Walrus that stood only a few feet from the side of it’s enclosure. Hope rolled her eyes but followed Kelley, the rest of the group slowly making their way over to the large animal who was sunning himself.

“Kelley, don’t stand in front of the thing,” Hope said and Kelley pouted. Hope watched as the walrus huffed and she moved closer to her girlfriend, ready to pull her away from the large animal.

“Are you afraid it’s gonna eat your girl Solo?” Tobin teased and Hope looked over at her.

“It can fucking crush a car, so yes I’m worried it’s gonna eat my girl.”

“Point… Chris please don’t go near the two ton mammal.” Hope watched as the Walrus lowered its head to watch Kelley, it let out another huff.

“See it likes me,” Kelley said as Hope scoffed and crossed her arms.

“Oh?”

“Yeah see,” Kelley grinned taking another step closer. The walrus made a deep rumble and Kelley gave it a side eye.

“Oh, I see it does like you,” Hope smirked. She had noticed the worker standing by the large walrus who gave her an ok sign as Kelley stepped closer. When the walrus moved closer to Kelley, the young defender’s eyes went wide.

“Hope…”

“He really does like you!” Hope exclaimed.

“Hope… um..” Kelley tried shuffling backwards but Mal was behind her, not scared at all. The walrus leaned forward and placed its bristly nose right on Kelley’s cheek.

“Aw, he’s kissing you.”

“Hope!” Kelley squeaked, eyes wide. Suddenly the walrus had a flipper around Kelley holding her close. By now Hope was full out, doubled over, laughing, “Hope, stop laughing! Save me!” Kelley cried out.

“Aw, he’s just showing you he loves you!”

“Hope, I swear to god you’ll sleep on the couch tonight!”

“We’re at camp, there are no couches,”

“I’ll fucking find one!” Kelley warned and Hope walked up slowly.

“Actually... “ Hope stepped back, “give her one more kiss boy,” Hope said and the walrus smacked his muzzle against Kelley’s cheek as the defender wiggled in his grip.

“Hope Fucking Amelia Solo!” Kelley shouted, “I’m going to kill you!” 

“You love me,” Hope said and waved to the walrus, who let Kelley go before making his way over to ryan, waving at the boy. Hope stepped up to Kelley. She removed her light sweatshirt allowing Kelley to use it as a towel before kissing her. 

“You’re sleeping on the couch,” Kelley said, not returning the kiss.

“Worth it,” Hope smiled.

“Got it all on video Hope,” Ash said and Kelley groaned. 

“But Kelley first, I moustache you a question,” Tobin grinned as Kelley groaned again, even Christen rolled her eyes at Tobin’s antics.

“What loser face?”

“Was he a better kisser than Solo?” Tobin asked, jumping out of range of the keeper, Kelley looked up at Hope, debating her answer for a moment.

“Hope uses more tongue, thank god,” she said and Hope laughed.

“Maybe you should give me another shot to use more tongue,” Hope offered and Kelley glared at her.

“Walrus gonna get a turn at that too?” Everyone turned with impressed stares at Mal, who fielded a fist bump from Tobin.

“Don’t even joke.” Kelley glared at Mal before stomping away back to the main path.

x-x-x

Kelley heard the chuckles from the front of the bus, knowing that Ash was showing the rest of the team the video from earlier. She yawned as she curled into Hope’s side, ready to sleep the way back to the hotel.

“I think we should shower when we get back, get the sweat off of us,” Hope said, kissing the top of Kelley’s head.

“You mean the walrus snot?” Kelley retorted, earning a snort from Carli.

“Yeah, well that too.”

“You’re still sleeping on the couch.”

“Still worth it.”

**Author's Note:**

> So this turned from a 56 word joke of sorts into a 3k mess. So let me know what you guys think!


End file.
